


The Ultimate Tour Guide

by mauvera



Series: The Unconventional Tour [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Field Trip, Gen, Identity Reveal, Peter is a Little Shit, Secret Identity, lmao the internship is real for once, there needs to be more fics where peter's identity is revealed to his class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 20:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18301772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mauvera/pseuds/mauvera
Summary: Michelle was ready for the day to be over before it began. It was bad enough she had to be on a bus to go to Stark Tower, but now all her classmates were making dumb bets with each other and Peter wasn't even coming with them.But then she saw just who their tour guide was.Maybe the day wouldn't be quite as boring as she'd thought.





	The Ultimate Tour Guide

It was the foot tapping that got to her. 

 

MJ has been fine with the fidgeting, Ned Leeds had never been known as a patient man, so she had learnt to accept that sometimes he would just be moving around. 

 

She would even say she was fine with the smiling. Even though at that point it genuinely seemed like it should be hurting, but Ned hadn’t let his grin drop for a second. He was probably fine. 

 

But the foot tapping. That was something that she just couldn’t let carry on. 

 

“Leeds, if you make another sound I will throw you out of this bus.”

 

Ned halted, his eyes flicking over to the window to check just how heavy traffic was and therefore just how likely he was to survive the fall. To her relief, he appeared to decide that today was not the day to test MJ’s patience. Casting a sheepish grin her way, Ned visibly attempted to keep his body frozen in place, adequately wary of irritating her. 

 

Smugly, she turned back to her book, the words drawing her in until the world beyond was soon forgotten. Sounds of students chattering filled the air, drifting past her in a mindless wash of noise. Even if she’d bothered to listen in there was no doubt that all they’d be talking about was their predictions. 

 

How the students of an elite specialist school managed to think bets were genuinely a good idea was a mystery to her. Nonetheless that was exactly what they’d done. Some part of her was almost begrudgingly impressed; the class had managed to devise a comprehensive set of rules regarding how many predictions an individual student could make, as well as how many students were needed to concur if the validity of an ambiguous bet was up for debate. They were shockingly well organised for a bunch of genius idiots. 

 

“That’s absolutely the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” Betty’s voice broke away from the stream of chatter, rising up in disbelief. “You cannot seriously think that we’re going to see any of the Avengers’ actual weaponry today.”

 

Against her better judgement MJ’s gaze flickered to the side, just enough to catch a glimpse of Betty staring down at Flash who sat before her, his arms crossed, and jaw set in stubborn determination. 

 

“Shut it Brant,” came his oh-so-witty retort, “it’s not like your idea is any better.”

 

“What are you on about? I’m absolutely correct. We’re going to get there and we will one hundred percent have to get some form of identification. It’s a basic security measure.”

 

“Why the hell would Stark Tower feel the need to identify a bunch of high school students? We’re a tour group not an invading league of villains trying to take over the world.”

 

Small bubbles of laughter appeared from amidst the students, everyone equally amused at the idea of any one of them being a legitimate threat to Stark Tower. Betty however, simply sat there, one eyebrow raised in challenge. MJ would almost admit she admired the girl’s surety in herself. Even if she did personally think Brant’s idea was a bit far fetched. 

 

“You are both wrong,” Abe declared. At the sound of his voice piping up from the back of the bus a few students turned to him curiously. “I will be right. We will see a superhero today.” 

 

Half the class seemed to groan in unison, all equally tired of Abe’s constant reassurance that they were going to meet an Avenger. No matter how many times it was explained to him that just because their school had been awarded an opportunity to tour Stark Tower, it didn’t mean Tony Stark himself actually knew about them. Frankly, MJ was pretty damn sure Stark had nothing to do with it at all. The most he could possibly have contributed was maybe signing a piece of paper that an assistant happened to shove under his nose. No. Midtown high had won this trip fair and square on its own merits in the National Science and Technology Olympiad Competition and Tony Stark just happened to be the name associated with their location. 

 

Honestly, if her peers weren’t so adamant about disbelieving every word Peter said, then they would’ve noticed that Stark wouldn’t organise a field trip for his own intern. Then again, she mused, maybe that is why they thought this was happening; some kind of cosmic justice that’ll catch Parker out on his lies. Admittedly, Peter generally sucked a lying, but he’d have to have been an absolute dumbass to think he could get away with pretending to work at Stark Industries and then continued to commit to that lie for nearly two years even while everyone around him ridiculed the very idea of it. 

 

Beside her, MJ caught onto the wary glances Ned continued to throw her way. Damn it. She’d let herself be distracted by the stupid bets enough that she hadn’t even been pretending to read for nearly a whole minute. Hastily, she dropped her gaze back to the page hoping it would ward off any of Ned’s attempts to talk to her. How Parker dealt with sitting together with him was a question that eluded even her sharp mind. She did have to hand it to him though, Ned was far more observant than she gave him credit for. 

 

“You alright there?”

 

Damn. Guess avoiding him didn’t really work when they were sitting next to one another. 

 

“Yes Leeds. I’m fine.” Ned continued to look at her sceptically, a new trick she was almost certain he’d picked up from spending time with her. “Seriously. I was just busy imagining this day finally being over.”

 

“Over? Dude. It’s nine am. How are you already sick of today?”

 

MJ smiled at him, a slow, shallow grin that would almost be friendly if it weren’t just on the wrong side of unsettling. Ned shuddered, scooting back into the few spare inches of seat left. 

 

“Because Leeds, it’s nine AM, I’m on a bus, I have to go on this stupid field trip, and all my classmates think it’s a good idea to start placing bets on a place they’ve never been to in their lives.”

 

That eternal smile he always seemed to have on his face was back, “Yeah dude, but think of it this way; it’s nine AM, we’re on our way to Stark Tower, and you’re about to see all your classmates be proven wrong. And isn’t that like, your favourite thing?”

 

MJ huffed out something that resembled a laugh at that. Leeds had a point. 

 

“Plus,” he continued, his voice dropping to a whisper, “Peter said he’s going to be there.”

 

MJ raised a sceptical eyebrow, well aware of the fact Peter hadn’t been allowed on the field trip due to his excessive record of unexplained absences from school. Ned shrugged at her unasked question, but seemed quite sure that Parker would be joining them nonetheless. Well, she thought as she turned back to her book, the day could only get more interesting from here. 

  
  


-

 

As the bus began to slow students were already leaping out of their seats, eager to be the first to step inside Stark Tower. To absolutely nobody’s surprise Flash was the one out the vehicle first, a line of students angrily rubbing at sore arms and shoulders where he’d elbowed past them. MJ herself couldn’t help but try to delay her exit as long as possible. Not that she wasn’t at least a bit interested to see what technological marvels could be found in the tower, it was more the principle of the thing where if Flash showed any visible enthusiasm or unearned arrogance about something, then MJ would instinctively do everything in her power to become as much of an inconvenience as possible. 

 

So, at the urging of her classmates she finally alighted upon the ground, immediately rolling her eyes at everyone’s eager faces. Ned dutifully sidled up next to her, entirely impervious to her judgemental glares. She guessed that was what she got forever actually admitting they were friends. He and Parker had stuck to her like leeches after that declaration, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t love it a little bit. 

 

Thus with her arm linked in his, Ned led the pair into the foyer where their class awaited the arrival of a tour guide. 

 

Mr Harrington had ordered the students to wait while he signed in at the front desk, which of course meant everyone immediately began to be as rowdy and disruptive as a herd of teenagers are naturally wont to be. 

 

“-you can’t prove it doesn’t exist!” Cindy was hissing at her friend. “You can’t say I’ve already lost a bet when we’ve only been here for a minute! Plus, an AI could totally be here and we just wouldn’t know.”

 

“What?” Sally replied, hand in hip, “if the AI doesn’t talk by the end of the trip you owe me fifteen bucks. That’s the deal.” 

 

“Fifteen?! We agreed on ten!”

 

“Well it’s higher now because of, uh, inflation?”

 

Cindy snorted, the pair of them breaking into laughter almost immediately. Other students joined in because apparently everyone was ludicrously happy. It was just a tower. Calm down. 

 

Harrington returned to the group, eyebrows drawn together in a puzzled frown. In unison the students looked to him, panic immediately settling in their stomachs that something was wrong and they weren’t going to get to go on their once in a lifetime private tour of Stark Tower. Harrington noticed their concerned glances and hurriedly reassured them that everything was fine. 

 

“Don’t worry everybody, our guide should be here in a moment. The staff was just informing me that the original guide that was scheduled to take us around has been replaced. We’re just waiting for the substitute to appear.”

 

“For a Fortune 500 company, Stark Industries does not seem to be awfully well organised.” MJ commented offhandedly. Ned snickered beside her, apparently pleased that she was now showing some sign of interest in the goings on. 

 

A woman in a tightly pressed suit appeared beside Mr Harrington, her faced pinched in an expression that suggested interacting with a bunch of random school children was not only  _ not  _ part of her job description, but it was quite possibly the one thing on Earth she would rather be doing literally anything else instead. 

 

“Excuse me,” She said as haughtily as humanly possible, “We at Stark Industries would like the apologise for the delay. The interns here are normally quite adept at leading the touring groups, however it appears one of the higher ups, has decided to change their schedules for some peculiar reason.” She smiled in a way that made it look like she was simultaneously trying to appear as friendly and hostile as she could. 

 

“That’s quite alright,” Harrington beamed, his eyes scanning the entrance hall as though he would be able to recognise a random intern as they approached. To her surprise, MJ watched as his eyes seemed to latch onto a figure behind the group of students, his jaw dropping open in shock. Before she had even bothered to turn around Mr Harrington’s strangled voice called out.

 

“Mr Parker?”

 

Oh.

 

Oh this was good. 

 

This was  _ very _ good.

 

MJ, along with the other students, whipped around at Harrington’s exclamation. A series of gasps sounded out when sure enough, there was Peter Parker, walking hurriedly over to them. A red flush of embarrassment streaked across his cheeks but he walked forward anyway, coming to an uncomfortable stop before them. MJ grinned at him, his discomfort was so entirely visible that she could practically see him hopping from one foot to another as he wilted under the piercing gazes of his classmates. At last the silence was broken by one simple little question.

 

“What the fuck, Parker?”

 

“Mr Thompson!” Harrington scolded, but it was so halfhearted that Flash barely even noticed, he was after all, far too preoccupied with glaring at Peter as though the whole field trip was some great big scam that he’d orchestrated to try and convince people of his internship. 

 

“Uh, hi?” Was Peter’s only response, the words surprisingly shy and quiet.

 

“Hey!” Came Ned’s cheery voice. The moment Peter found his friend, with MJ standing there amusedly nearby, Peter brightened. 

 

“Right!” He said, confidence seeping back into his voice as he nodded at the woman to indicate he had everything under control. She cast him a quick glance, a genuine smile reaching her lips before she hurried off to go and do some proper work now that the useless schoolchildren were out of her hands. “Shall we get going?”

 

MJ watched the way Harrington stuttered for a moment, his whole body frozen in shock as he seemed to register that the student he had refused to allow onto the field trip was now leading it only days later. God. She wished she had her sketchbook at the moment because his expression was  _ priceless. _

 

Peter turned on his heels and began walking away, rightly assuming that the class would follow him in a stunned daze. Honestly only MJ and Ned still seemed capable of rational thought, which somehow meant they ended up right at the front. 

 

“Dude,” Ned said, his voice dropped back down into his attempt at a whisper, “That was the best entrance I’ve ever seen in my life.”

 

“Surprisingly impressive Parker.” MJ chimed.

 

“Yeah!” Ned nodded enthusiastically, “We were all like ‘woah where’s our tour guide?’ and then you showed up and it was like ‘whaaat?’ and then Flash was all-”

 

“Yes Ned. We know. We were there.” MJ scowled, but even she was fighting off a grin. “Gotta admit Parker, I like your style.”

 

“My style?” He said easily, still leading them across the room towards an elevator with a large scanner set up in front. A bored security guard who had been leaning tiredly against it jumped up when he noticed the incoming group. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“Shut up Parker, you’re a drama queen and we all know it.” She snorted.

 

Peter finally turned back to her at that, flashing her a grin that told her everything she needed to know: Peter Parker was a little shit, and he was absolutely  _ loving _ every moment of his classmate’s shock. Not that she could blame him of course, if she’d had everyone telling her she’d been lying for nearly two years without even giving her the benefit of the doubt, she’d probably revel in every single glorious moment of proving them wrong. 

 

“Okay guys,” Peter called out, coming to a stop before the security guard, “As you come through the scanner please grab an access card,” Betty’s quiet cheer was accompanied by several groans as students began fishing money out of their pockets to pass to her. Guess at least one bet was spot on. Peter carried on, ignoring their shenanigans. “They’ll let security know you’re not trying to break in and steal stuff. And you can keep ‘em as a souvenir if you want I guess, they only work for today anyway.”

 

Ned thrust his hand forward, swiping a pass right out of Peter’s hand, who only rolled his eyes fondly before continuing to hand them out to everyone down the line. Ned made his way through the gate, grinning maniacally when an Irish woman’s computerised voice announced his name followed by status.

 

“Edward Leeds. Guest Pass.”

 

MJ followed afterwards, receiving the same treatment. One by one the other students went through, only Flash getting pulled aside due to his having an unauthorised camera in his backpack which they had all been specifically forbidden from bringing. MJ ignored him as he sauntered through, not even embarrassed for getting caught trying to sneak illegal photos of the tower. 

 

Finally Peter came through after them, causing everyone to yet again gasp in surprise when the voice deviated from her limited script. 

 

“Peter Parker. Alpha Level: All Access pass.” Students gasped, confused at how the hell Parker had ended up with a pass that apparently let him go anywhere in the tower. The hell kind of intern had that much power? Their hushed confusion was quickly silenced when the voice unexpectedly kept talking. “Welcome back, Peter, where would you like to go?”

 

Peter herded the shocked students into the elevator, ignoring their gaping stares, “Thanks Fri, but I know you are well aware I have been in this building for hours, you really don’t have to reintroduce me every time.”

 

There was a quiet moment where the voice seemed to consider Peter’s words, and if MJ were to picture an expression to match the voice, it would almost certainly have been rolling its eyes. “Protocols are in place for a reason Peter. Now where would you like to go?”

 

“Fri, I am perfectly capable of pressing a button on my own.” Peter said, reaching for one of the seemingly endless buttons lining the elevator wall. Before he could select the floor he was after though, the elevator began moving and Peter simply let his hand drop, a fake exasperated sigh on his lips as the AI directed them higher up the tower. MJ couldn’t help but be a bit impressed, not only was this the singular smoothest elevator ride she’d ever been on, which seemed like a weirdly specific thing to notice, but the AI Peter had been mentioning for years was somehow even more of a personality than he’d indicated. Her presence didn’t even feel artificial. Based on the way she interacted with Peter it was almost as though they were genuinely friends. 

 

MJ cast a suspicious glance at Peter who was busy whispering with Ned, which no doubt was some type of violation of tour guide protocols. But the rest of the class was still too shocked at Parker’s mere presence to even consider speaking so the pair of them carried on. Well, everyone was too shocked except for Cindy Moon who was busy trying to collect the money she’d earned from her bet. MJ kept watch on her friends, Ned’s boundless enthusiasm was to be expected, but it was Parker’s casual ease that was unnerving her. 

 

She studied the way he moved through Stark Tower, the way his shoulders were set just a little more firmly than they ever were in the school halls. The way his voice raised unwaveringly as he directed students to get out on the fourteenth floor. The way he would smile and nod at other SI employees they passed. The way that the smile that flashed across his face as he began to lead the students through an exhibition of old Stark tech was just a little more carefree and confident than she was use to. 

 

MJ trailed along dutifully after the other students, mild interest in their surroundings was being quickly surpassed by the enigma that was Peter Parker. 

 

“This section of the hall is actually dedicated to Howard Stark’s early work,” Peter announced as he led the students past objects ranging from a car that supposedly could hover, to the first camera pen. “Mr Stark thought it important to acknowledge where Stark Industries began. But I’m pretty sure he also just wanted to one up his own dad because the rest of this floor is just for showing off all the stuff Mr Stark came up with while he was still a teenager.” Peter grinned, “The rest of the exhibition takes up the next two floors. Not to mention the Iron Man museum.”

 

Most of her classmates seemed to break out of their residual shock as Parker went on to explain some of the inventions Howard had made, eventually they were even asking Peter questions, having finally accepted that he was actually informed on the topic and there was no point in not taking advantage of his role as tour guide. MJ was surprisingly pleased, and maybe even a bit proud, to see how well Peter handled the questions thrown at him. He was patient and clear with his explanations, and if she had to bet, MJ would probably say he’d taken the tour before himself. No doubt he’d sneak down to this floor asking the guides every one of those questions time and time again. 

 

They had just crossed into the beginning of Tony’s part of the exhibition when Flash finally decided to start being himself again. “So, Parker,” he sneered. Around him students were already sighing in exasperation. Just one day without Flash causing a scene was all they wanted. It seemed they’d be left waiting though, if that mad glint in his eyes was anything to go by. “You still gonna claim you know Tony Stark?”

 

She had to give it to him; Flash was persistent. 

 

A persistent idiot. But persistent nonetheless. She cast a glance to Peter who was looked infinitely more confused than offended.

 

“Wait. You seriously still think I’m lying about my internship?” He asked, rightly baffled. 

 

Flash rolled his eyes like it was Peter that had just said something dumb. “Nah, I can see you work here genius. I just finally know your game now.”

 

“Oh? And what game is that?”

 

“You’re embarrassed.”

 

Peter paused. He looked around at his fellow students who were all glaring at Flash for interrupting their tour, then he looked to Mr Harrington who had wandered off to go look at a prototype arc reactor and was yet again oblivious to everything his students were up to. Finally Peter turned back to Flash, who stood with his arms crossed smugly in front of him. 

 

“Embarrassed that I have the job I’ve been saying I’ve had for years? Or embarrassed on your behalf that you were the one who didn’t believe me?”

 

While MJ and Ned snorted in amusement, Flash simply pinched his face in an approximation of a sneer, mad that Parker wasn’t breaking down in front of him. “No dumbass. You’ve been saying you know Tony Stark and Spider-Man and the Avengers! Where are they, huh? That’s right. They’re not here. Because you’re not Stark’s personal assistant or whatever. You’re just a random tour guide. You’ve probably never even stepped foot in a lab here have you?”

 

To everyone’s collective surprise Peter didn’t cower down, stuttering out some excuse about how it wasn’t like that. No. Peter Parker took one look at Flash, and then he  _ laughed. _

 

“Brilliant Flash,” Peter said through hiccuped laughs, “Absolutely brilliant.” He shifted to wipe a probably fake tear out of his eye “You’re literally seeing me at my work and still think I’m making it all up for… what? Your approval?” Peter shook his head, a smile still plastered to his face. “I don’t need that.” He took another look around at the students who were all trying to smother their own grins at the flush of red quickly covering Flash’s face, “Now, shall we continue with the tour?”

  
He led them further through the exhibition, pointing out fun facts about the technologies Stark had created in the last few years. MJ didn’t bother trying to stop her laughter every time Peter felt the need to throw in a fun little ‘bonus’ fact about how Mr Stark did this or said that, especially because it meant Flash only became progressively more tomato-esque in shade the more Peter reminisced about his chats with the inventor. 

 

“-And that’s the spot where he accidentally shot a repulsor at the houseplant Ms Potts had specifically ordered the day before. Mr Stark told me she’d never been so mad since that time he got kidnapped.” Peter flashed everyone a quick smile, “Since the  _ last _ time he got kidnapped.”

 

More money ended up getting passed around after Sally’s prediction that something would blow up was deemed fulfilled when a loud bang sounded from the floor above. Peter had shrugged at their curious glances and mentioned something about the lab techs trying to test the limits of vibranium. Half the class seemed hesitant to hand the cash over though, claiming that because they didn’t see it in person it didn’t count, but they were quickly outvoted. 

 

Peter eventually brought them to the room they’d all been waiting for; the Avengers exhibit. 

 

Why Stark Industries felt the need to collect almost certainly dangerous and priceless displays of Avenger suits and weapons almost certainly could be tied to both Stark’s natural showmanship, and probably some level of pettiness that he still had control of their gear while the government, to their chagrin, still didn’t.

 

“Yep!” Peter said happily, “Here’s all the Avenger junk Mr Stark still has lying around. And before you ask: yes. These were their real weapons. And no. You can’t touch them, they’ve been deactivated.”

 

Students sighed, both at the “no touching very valuable and expensive and possibly volatile Avengers weapons” rule, but also because they then had to start fishing out more money to pass to Flash who was looking far too smug. 

 

Peter opened his mouth, either to warn off Ned who had decided to ignore the warnings and was reaching for a replica of Captain America’s shield, or to finally start asking about the cash. 

 

Before he could get a single word out, the sirens started wailing. 

 

Students cowered at the noise, clapping hands over ears at the piercing shriek of the alarms, frantically trying to find the source of the flashing red lights which had flooded the room. 

 

In seconds any order in their group had dissolved, replaced with frightened screams and shouted confusion. 

 

“What the hell is happening?!” Flash roared, turning on Peter who looked… different. 

 

The Peter that MJ knew existed somewhere between an awkward nerd who couldn’t lie to save his life, and a surprisingly sharp, attentive boy whose wit was almost as quick as his mind. The Peter Parker that stood before her now, eyes narrowed in concentration as he evaluated the room for incoming threats, was a stranger. 

 

No one else seemed to have noticed, they were all too busy crowding towards Harrington who had never looked less sure of anything in his life. 

 

“I-I’m sure it’s fine, everyone. Probably some kind of malfunctioning security alarm?” God. He didn’t even sound like he’d convinced himself. 

 

“Attention.” The AI’s voice blared from the ceiling, even louder than the piercing siren “This is not a drill. The Tower is under attack. Please move to your nearest allocated safety zone.”

 

The students whimpered, clutching at one another as fear filled their eyes. Harrington panicked, struggling to find the words to comfort his frightened students. MJ barely even noticed his blubbering, she was far too busy watching Peter, because apparently she and Ned were the only ones who’d remembered that he was the actual authority figure. Well, she had remembered. Ned was grinning so enthusiastically she would’ve assumed he was about to meet Iron Man or some other hero that he was such a fan of. 

 

Peter didn’t seem to notice any of that. He stood tall, shoulders squared and fists clenched so tight his knuckles were blinding white. “FRIDAY.” He called, causing all the students to look to him, searching desperately for answers to what was happening. “Where are the intruders?”

 

“They have infiltrated through the east side of the fifteenth floor and are currently moving to the northern stairwell.”

 

He grimaced. “ETA?”

 

“Approximately five minutes.”

 

Peter huffed an irritated breath. It was like he was more annoyed that the intruders were so inconvenient as to not give him enough time to form a solid plan, than he was at all worried about the very imminent danger he and his entire class were currently in. 

 

“Alright everyone,” He said, students followed his every movement with desperate attention, although some even seemed to have found themselves calming down at the sheer confidence Parker was exuding. Surely it couldn’t be that awful if he wasn’t worried. “We need to get to the panic room. Follow me.”

 

He strode forward but MJ saw him keeping an eye out for the others, making sure not a single person got separated from the pack. 

 

“FRIDAY?” he called out as they neared a heavily reinforced door down the end of a winding hallway. The door swung open at his voice and the AI spoke up, still louder than the ever present siren shrieks. 

 

“The intruders are approximately one minute from your location Peter.”

 

“Shit!” Peter hissed, the first frown she’d seen cross his face, “You didn’t tell me!”

 

“I assumed you knew,” FRIDAY managed to sound impressively indignant for a computer, “You were leading your class northwards.”

 

Peter glanced around the hall, noting the absence of windows or any clear indication of direction. “Well fuck.” he mumbled to himself. 

 

Quickly, he spun on his heels and reached out to grab onto Mr Harrington’s arm. It must’ve been one hell of a grip because Harrington barely covered his wince of pain. 

 

“I need you to get everyone indoors.” Peter said urgently, his gaze flicking back to the end of the hall where the intruders were about to arrive at any second.

 

“Peter,” Mr Harrington chided, trying to herd the boy in with the other students only for Peter to twist himself out of his grasp so quickly MJ barely even saw what happened, “You’ve got to come in with us. Don’t play the hero. Not now.”

 

The other students had shoved their way inside until only Ned and MJ were bringing up the rear. MJ didn’t feel at all comfortable leaving Harrington and Peter to start debating in the middle of the hallway, but she resolutely attempted to push Ned back. A quick glance at him revealed a surprisingly intense concentration that lined his face. He was staring straight at Peter and refused to move until Parker looked back at him. Ned mouthed something that MJ was pretty sure said “guy in the chair?” but Peter just shook his head, at which point Ned nodded at him. She didn’t understand what had just passed between the two boys but Ned let himself be pulled into the room along with her, seemingly confident in Peter’s ability to handle the situation.

 

Just as she stepped foot through the doorway and had turned to demand Harrington and Parker follow, a dozen armed men charged into the corridor. Behind her came muffled shrieks of fear as her class saw the weapons that quickly zeroed in on Harrington and Parker as the only two bodies blocking the way before the safety room. MJ could feel her stomach churning with fear, bile threatening to crawl up her throat while her mind flashed unbidden images of Peter’s mangled body being riddled with bullets right before her eyes. 

 

She wanted to close them. To stop seeing this. To stop the panic that threatened to swallow her whole even as she found her feet moving of their own accord, back out into the hall, her hand reaching out to grasp at sleeves and pull her teacher and her friend back into the relative safety. Ned’s hand clasped firmly on her shoulder, drawing her back in. She twisted against his hold but he was shockingly strong. Holding her in place. 

 

She wanted to turn to him, frustrated tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks and demand to know why he was stopping her. But there was no time. No time to turn. No time to move forward. No time to stop Peter from rounding on Mr Harrington and shoving him so hard he stumbled back into her, until they both fell backwards into the room where the students cried out. No time to do anything but look Peter in the eyes as he grabbed at the door handle even when the first bullet struck the wall beside him. No time to do anything as Peter slammed the door shut after telling them through a strained smile “everything’ll be fine”. 

 

MJ’s gasp was swallowed by the sound of bullets pounding against the wall, ricocheting off the steel door. Ned’s grip on her shoulder tightened until it was almost jarringly painful. 

 

Not that it mattered of course. Because Michelle wasn’t paying attention to her shoulder, or Ned, or even the rest of her classmates. 

 

MJ was focused on the way the door swung back open to reveal Peter Parker crawling across the ceiling. 

 

He must’ve slammed the door so hard that it never quite latched into place, the force sending it rocketing back until the Midtown students had a perfectly clear view of Peter facing down over a dozen men. 

 

They watched, entranced, at the way he dropped from the ceiling, pushing himself down and landing on a man’s back. Peter swung his torso to the left, using the momentum of his body weight to drag the man across the hall and made him careen straight into another of the intruders. Peter leapt from his shoulders at the last second, his body twisting midair in a move MJ was positive he’d stolen from the olympics gymnastics routine they’d watched together a few weeks ago. He landed on one foot, the other already sweeping out as he crouched in a flawless, swift movement that reflected nothing but hours of practice. 

 

Peter Parker knew how to fight. Peter Parker was winning. Peter Parker could climb up walls. 

 

Peter Parker… was Spider-Man. 

 

MJ swallowed the flood of emotions she felt swirling inside of her at that realisation. She didn’t have time to think back on Peter’s half assed excuse for being constantly late, or even the shoddy explanations for all those bruised knuckles which seemed to mysteriously disappear by the time they sat down for lunch. 

 

One of her best friends was a goddamn superhero and she had never even noticed. 

 

She couldn’t help but spare half a second to glance at Ned, only to find there wasn’t even a hint of surprise lining his features. At any other moment she would’ve laughed that the two most notoriously awful liars she knew had somehow kept this a secret for two whole years. But Ned wasn’t grinning while he watched his best friend fight off the bad guys. His face was pinched in what Michelle could only describe as pity. 

 

It took her a second to connect the dots but finally she figured out that Ned wasn’t worried about the fight, not really. He was worried that not only had MJ just made a mind blowing discovery, so had the rest of the class who had gathered behind them to watch the fight. In seconds they would figure out why Peter was able to flip so elegantly out of the way of a spray of bullets like it was second nature. 

 

MJ struggled to focus on the fight and ignored any and all thoughts of secret identities and consequences, saving them for later. For now, she needed to keep watch. To make sure her friend didn’t do something stupid like get himself killed before she had a chance to yell at him for keeping this a secret from her. 

 

Peter seemed entirely oblivious to the way the door had opened up. He didn’t know he had an audience who had just seen how he’d already knocked four of the guys out and disarmed another six. The class crowded around the doorway, entranced by the fluid movement of the fight. Peter seemed to be everywhere at once, using the walls and ceiling as just as much as the floor. It was almost funny really, the way the invaders would have to chase Peter’s quick movements only to find themselves slamming into a wall they’d never anticipated. Peter would leap from one side of the hall to the other with no regard for such inconveniences like gravity interfering with him.

 

He was a force to be reckoned with. 

 

“You guys are a little late for the official tour y’know?” Peter said conversationally. MJ rolled her eyes suddenly wondering how she’d never figured out Spider-Man’s identity, because only one other person she knew would be dumb enough to try and have a chat with a bunch of armed criminals.

 

One such criminal didn’t seem to appreciate Peter’s attempts to talk, slashing at him with a knife. Peter gripped onto the ceiling so he could drop his foot down and kick the knife down the hall, entirely unbothered by the weapon. 

 

“If you look to your left,” Peter continued happily, “You’ll see my fist.” 

 

MJ scoffed a quiet laugh when one of the men actually turned to look only to be met with Peter punching him in the face. Peter himself let out an amused giggle at that, “Holy shit, that actually worked?”

 

Behind him, two more of the invaders were closing in on Peter, whose back was turned to them. MJ wanted to shout a warning only for Ned to tighten his grip on her shoulder, a quiet whisper to “watch this” the only warning she had before the man on the left swung his fist at the back of Peter’s head. Peter, for his part, simply stood there, waiting for the right moment before his head tilted slightly, like he was listening out for danger, and then ducked at the last second. The man who had swung clearly hadn’t anticipated Peter’s dodge, and his hit had too much moment to stop which meant the punch carried on until he slammed into his own teammate. 

 

Peter jumped back up, a lopsided smile on his face “We here at Stark Industries don’t really appreciate unsolicited violence.” He sounded like he was reading a PR script and trying not to laugh all at once “I’m going to have to ask you to vacate the premises.” 

 

The guy sneered at Peter only for that to transform into a squeak of surprise when Peter grabbed him by the waist and  _ threw _ the man down the hall. 

 

That left five guys still standing but they all suddenly seemed hesitant to face the kid who had just knocked out half their friends and could apparently throw someone twice his weight without hesitation. 

 

Peter smiled amiably at them. “If anyone has questions, feel free to raise your hand.” 

 

Her friend was an idiot, MJ decided. He was still spouting off as much of his tour guide spiel as he could and clearly he was enjoying it  _ way _ too much for a normal person. 

 

The intruders seemed a little lost at what to do until one reared on the only two left with guns, “Shoot him! You idiots! He’s just a fucking kid!”

 

Peter pouted, “I’m sorry to inform you-” he dropped to the floor mid sentence, bullets missing him by mere inches. Peter rolled onto his side, pushing off the floor with shocking force until he was stood right between the two armed men, their guns now aimed at an empty wall. “-But I have to confiscate all unauthorised material!” Peter reached out, grabbing the two weapons and crushing them in his bare hands. 

 

MJ and her classmates seemed to suck in shocked gasps in unison. Holy shit. Only Ned was left grinning at Peter’s unnatural display of strength. 

 

The men, understandably, stumbled back. Away from the teenager who had just folded their guns in half while talking about getting “appropriate souvenirs available at the giftshop.”

 

Peter was still chatting happily to himself as he dodged a series of punches being thrown at him when MJ saw that two of the men had made their way past him, their eyes latched onto the students still cowering in the doorway. Michelle and Ned had planted themselves firmly at the front, protecting those behind them. Either because they were both surprisingly brave and generous people, or more likely they’d done it because they wanted to be as close to their friend as possible as he threw himself into mortal danger for them. 

 

The men approached, and before she or Ned could call out a warning, they had them. 

 

“Not another move.” The guy holding her said. She was frozen, a knife resting against her throat. 

 

Peter turned, another quip ready on his lips only to freeze himself when he saw his best friends held captive. Beside her, she was pretty sure Ned might’ve waved half heartedly. 

 

Peter’s gaze flickered between them, the knives, and the open door that revealed the rest of the class. She couldn’t even guess what the rapid flashes of emotions that crossed his face must’ve been. But whatever he was thinking at the moment, seeing his friends held hostage was enough for Peter to step down, he raised his hands in a sign of surrender. 

 

“Good kid,” the guy holding Ned said. “Now I dunno what kinda freak you are but you’re gonna sit there and play nice ‘kay?”

 

Peter nodded. His whole body looked tense, like his it was screaming at him to fight but he couldn’t, not when Ned and MJ were in danger. 

 

The remaining men stood, some helping up the semi-conscious ones that had been laying on the floor. 

 

“Alright.” The guys holding MJ said, “You work here?” He looked at Peter, who again nodded. “Good. We know the weapons are on this floor. Take us to them.”

 

Peter sighed, “What about them?” he gestured at Ned and MJ who still had knives shoved right against their throats. 

 

The men looked at eachother confusedly until the one holding MJ, who she had figured out must be the leader, scoffed and began to drag her with him down the hall, “We’re taking the hostages with us, so this kid doesn’t start thinking he can take us on again.”

 

Peter seemed tense at the idea of them being taken too, but he wasn’t really getting a choice here. So the men shut the rest of the class into the security room, locking them in before dragging two teenagers and a superhero out into the halls.

 

Peter led the way, his eyes constantly finding Ned’s to make sure he was okay. He would look over at MJ too, carefully watching the way the knife hovered near her throat, but he never met her eyes. She wondered if he was afraid to meet her gaze, worried what she must think of him now. What an idiot, she thought, as if her knowing her best friend was a superhero would somehow make her like him less. 

 

Eventually the group arrived back at the exhibition hall they’d left only minutes ago. God. It had only been minutes, huh? MJ thought that having her entire world feel like it had just shifted on its axis would’ve taken far longer. 

 

‘Where are they, kid?” the leader asked impatiently, brandishing the knife around far too carelessly for MJ’s taste. 

 

Peter huffed, wrenching his arm easily out of the grasp of the man that’d been holding him. Obviously Peter must’ve been able to do that the entire time and had only been complying to make sure Ned and MJ were alright. She allowed a smug grin to slip onto her face at the indignant and worried looks of shock on the men’s expressions.

 

“Over here,” Peter said. He walked over to the Captain America display, his hands raised carefully above his head, his head ducked between shoulders. No wonder Peter had managed to keep his identity secret for so long, MJ thought, watching the absolute transformation her friend had just undertaken. He’d gone from a literal superhero to a nerdy, unimposing little kid in seconds and it was like she was the only one to notice. “There’s a button on the shield,” Peter’s voice shook with regret. It was like it pained him to admit the secret. 

 

MJ wondered why he was lying. 

 

The leader grinned, a manic look in his eye as he gestured with the knife for Peter to break the glass display case and press the nonexistent button. 

 

Peter dutifully stepped forward, his hands gripping the shield tightly. It was not Captain America’s vibranium shield, obviously. Instead it was a Stark Industries designed replacement, for if he was ever separated from his actual shield. It was almost as tough as the original with some fun bonus perks Peter had mentioned earlier in the tour. Something about it being just as weirdly physics-defying as the original. 

 

Peter stood, shield in hand, and cast a look back at Ned and MJ. It was the first time he’d met her eyes and the message in them was clear as day: “Duck.”

 

She and Ned hit the floor, dropping their weight so unexpectedly that both their captors let go in surprise. At the same time Peter had flung the shield with all his superhuman strength. The disk arched through the air, slamming into half of the men. The bodies flew back, slamming into walls and sliding down into unconscious heaps on the floor. Somehow, the shield returned to Peter’s outstretched hand, Stark had probably but some sort of homing abilities in that returned it to its user. Peter whipped his hand out again, the other half of the intruders getting slammed back.

 

The fight was over in mere seconds, if you could even call it a fight. 

 

And Peter was the only one left standing, shield grasped in hand. 

 

Ned and MJ rose from the floor, glancing worriedly at the assailants who all appeared thoroughly out of commision. 

 

“Dude…” Ned breathed, awe filling his voice, “That was awesome.”

 

Peter barked a laugh, surprise and worry flooding out of his system as Ned immediately lifted his fist for their dumb secret handshake. The boys smiled at one another, when they were done, an easy camaraderie that Michelle struggled not to be a little jealous of. 

 

At last, Peter turned to her. His grin becoming infinitely more sheepish in seconds when he saw her standing there, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

 

“Uh, surprise?” 

 

She rolled her eyes at him once before shocking them both and pulling him into a hug. Peter floundered for a second, unsure what was happening before  _ finally _ hugging her back.

 

“I’m glad you’re okay loser,” she said softly, pulling away. Peter beamed back at her until he noticed her suddenly serious stare. “But you owe me a free interview with Pepper Potts as payment for lying to me every time I asked why you were late to Decathlon practice.”

Peter laughed. A wonderful, chiming, laugh that filled the corridor. 

 

“You don’t hate me for lying?” He asked, suddenly quiet again.

 

She rolled her eyes one more time, because he still somehow hadn’t got the message. She also punched him in the shoulder just to make it clear. “Of course not, genius, I’m just shocked my friend is actually cool and he never even told me.”

 

Peter smiled, surprisingly shyly at her praise. 

 

“Now come on losers, we should go rescue our class.”

 

Peter gasped, having somehow forgotten them in his worry for his friends. “Oh shit. Yeah.” He glanced up at the ceiling, “Hey FRIDAY? You can take the tower off lockdown. I got them all.”

 

The alarms that had been blaring the entire time finally shut off. Peter sighed gratefully. 

 

Oh. Shit. He must’ve had enhanced hearing. Which, MJ thought with sudden panic, meant he had heard every single snarky remark she’d made about her classmates under her breath in the last two years. Damn it. 

 

“C’mon!” Peter called, already jogging back to where their class was still sitting, locked in the room. 

 

By the time Ned and MJ caught up to him he was helping everyone file out. Half the students either thanking him profusely or just staring at him with quiet awe. 

 

Flash was the last one to exit, seeing as he’d been the first to shove everyone out of his way when he’d gone in. He paused in the doorway, staring Parker up and down like he didn’t know how to react to anything now. The kid he’d bullied for years had not only just saved his life but also happened to have been his favourite superhero the whole time. For a second it looked like Flash’s whole brain had short circuited as he got caught between thanking Peter and apologising. 

 

What came out was an unnatural, jerky nod of his head and a scarlet flush of embarrassment across his cheeks. 

 

Peter smothered his amused smile quickly, but not before looking to Ned and MJ who were doing a much less successful job of hiding their laughter at Flash. 

 

Peter had just finished rounding up the class, who were suddenly all very happy to follow him around like a trail of baby ducks, when an explosion sounded from the other end of the floor. Peter pushed everyone behind him, hoping to god he wouldn’t have to fight off  _ another _ group of idiots who thought it was a good idea to invade Stark Tower, only for the clanking of metal to alert him to just who was on his way. 

 

“Ah damn it,” Peter muttered to himself. For half a second MJ felt panic bubbling up in her stomach, only to look over and see Peter looked infinitely more sheepish than worried. 

 

The answer to her unasked question came in the form of Iron Man slamming through a wall. Students gasped in shock. Was it because the building exploded near them or was it because they were actually seeing Iron Man before their own eyes? MJ didn’t know. And to be honest she didn’t really care, because she was far more interested in watching the way Iron Man’s helmet parted to reveal Tony Stark standing there with one eyebrow raised at Peter. 

 

Peter who was standing there surrounded by his friends and classmates. Peter who had just left footprints on the ceiling. Peter who had very obviously just revealed his secret identity. 

 

“Well,’ Tony said, his face blank, “I seem to remember telling you this morning  _ not _ to do anything stupid.”

 

Peter’s nervous expression quickly morphed into indignation. “Hey! It’s not  _ my _ fault we got attacked. If anything it’s yours for not having better security in place.” 

 

Michelle had never expected to see someone like Tony Stark look so very much like a parent who was about to ground their kid for daring to speak back to them. But look like a disapproving parent he did. She saw as Peter wilted under the glare, immediately regretting what he’d just said. 

 

“I-I just mean, uh,” Peter stuttered, “I didn’t mean to do anything stupid, there were just the guys, and my class was here, and I couldn’t do nothing y’know? So I, uh, did stuff?”

 

“Sure thing kid,” Stark said, but MJ could totally see the way he was trying not to smile at Peter’s embarrassed rambling, “Good work on the saving your friends thing.” She was almost tempted to ignore the way Peter instantly beamed at the praise. But then decided it was going to be hilarious when she got to make fun of his little puppy dog expression when they came back to school.

 

“Alright younglings,” Stark said, addressing the class as a whole, “Now I’m sure you’ve all seen some very fun and or frightening stuff today. Feel free to call your parents and let them know you’re all fine. The police will be here in a bit to come take statements and all that other official jazz.” 

 

MJ couldn’t help but appreciate the casual way he addressed the situation, after all she could practically see some of her classmates breathe out with relief at his nonchalant attitude. If Iron Man wasn’t worried, why should they be?

 

Tony Stark herded them forward after securing the men left unconscious in the other room, shepherding kids and dodging the questions they couldn’t help but spew at him. 

 

“Why did I build an arc reactor?” He mimicked, taken back, “Because I needed it? For my heart?” He frowned down at Flash, as if wondering why someone who got into the same school as Peter could ask such a stupid question. 

 

Peter, Ned and MJ brought up the rear of the group. Every so often another student would glance back at Peter, evaluating, questioning, searching. But they ignored them. In all honesty they seemed to ignore everything. Ned, after checking Peter over for injuries, had immediately launched into asking what they’d missed on the tour. It was routine to them. MJ trailed along happily, fascinated with the way the pair of them just accepted all of this as a natural part of Peter’s life; he was just a friend who sometimes went off to fight criminals, and then he’d show up to school the next day to talk about when he and Ned were next going to build legos together. And Ned, MJ realised, was the friend to keep Peter grounded, he was there if he needed him, but sometimes the way he was needed was just to bring a little normality to the life of a guy who dressed up like a spider to fight crime in his spare time. 

 

She wondered what her role was now that she knew. 

 

As students piled into the elevator together MJ found herself glaring at anyone who dared look like they were going to pester Peter. She understood they had questions, but he’d also just had to out his identity to everyone and couldn’t they see he needed space? When she glared so hard that Sally actually squeaked in fear before turning around, MJ realised this was her role. 

 

Spider-Man may protect everyone else, but Michelle Jones protected Peter Parker. 

 

Her smug grin only widened as the elevator doors closed behind them and she was close enough to see Tony Stark lean over to Peter and assure him that “We’ll be talking about those footprints on my ceiling later kid.” 

 

So maybe the field trip hadn’t gone quite as she’d expected; it certainly wasn’t boring that’s for sure. She looked over to her friend with fresh appreciation, after all, it had been an  _ educational _ day for certain. 

 

MJ couldn’t know for sure where things would go after this. Her class was obviously sworn to secrecy, but she couldn’t imagine what school would be like when they got back. Things were different now. But as she listening to Abe trying to convince everyone to double how much money they owed him because “we saw _two_ superheroes guys! Two!”, followed by Betty arguing that “Technically we only saw Iron Man. Spider-Man didn’t exactly show up in costume.” “That still totally counts!” “It definitely doesn’t.” “It does too!”

 

Well, MJ figured, maybe things wouldn’t be so different after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!  
> what are people's thoughts on me writing a mirror fic of this but from Peter's POV??


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